In a foundry, cast products are manufactured by transporting molten metal at a high temperature that has been melted in a melting furnace or the like to a system for pouring the molten metal and by pouring the molten metal into molds by means of the system for pouring the molten metal. Conventionally, to transport molten metal from a melting furnace to a system for pouring the molten metal, the molten metal is received by a ladle. Then the ladle is transported to the system for pouring the molten metal by means of a crane. However, when the ladle that contains molten metal at a high temperature is transported by a crane, there are problems such that an operator must approach the high temperature molten metal, and such that the ladle that is suspended by the crane may accidentally fall.
Thus, a method for transporting the ladle by using a travelling carriage or a roller conveyor came to be adopted (see International Publication No. WO 2010/122900). However, a foundry is generally very large, and so the time when the melting furnace or the holding furnace is installed may differ from the time when the system for pouring the molten metal is installed. So, the site of most foundries is not flat. Therefore the height for receiving molten metal often differs from that for pouring it. Thus, to accommodate the possible difference in heights, a carriage for transporting a ladle is required to be equipped with a mechanism for moving the ladle up and down. That ladle is used for transferring the molten metal from a ladle for receiving the molten metal to a ladle for pouring it.
When a foundry is renovated the height of the site of the melting furnace is often used for a basis for the height. In this case the height where the ladle is transported or the molten metal is poured into molds may be lower than the height where the ladle receives the molten metal. Thus, it is preferable to move up and down the ladle for receiving molten metal from the melting furnace and the like. However, since the melting furnace is at a high temperature, a system that is susceptible to heat should be prevented from approaching the melting furnace.
The present invention aims to provide a carriage for receiving molten metal with a mechanism for moving a ladle up and down and a method for transporting molten metal, so as to safely move the ladle for receiving the molten metal up and down and so as to safely transport it.